* Are handset makers and carriers in sync?
Nokia has stepped up to the plate to sell some of its handsets in the U.S. (and elsewhere) in ways that bypass the mobile network operators. Most notably, the company is selling several of its N Series smart phones, including its high-end N95 models, through its own online store, online e-tailers and several retail stores.
Choosing your handset independently of your network operator is fairly novel in the U.S. Once you get your unlocked Nokia phone (at an unsubsidized cost in the $700-ish range), you pop the subscriber identity module (SIM) card out of your old phone and into your new Nokia device. Or, if you have no existing carrier, you can procure a SIM card from one or more GSM carriers whose networks you might wish to use.
Early adopter-types gain a broader choice of handset options than just those available to them through the carrier channel, points out Bill Plummer, Nokia’s VP of Multimedia in North America. This is the type of open access that Sprint Nextel touts with its imminent Xohm WiMAX services and what some in the industry are hoping for with forthcoming 700MHz services.
There might be a gotcha or two when using such unlocked devices with existing U.S. 3G networks, though.
Plummer notes that the N95, for example, has an open interface that allows third parties to develop applications for the phone. So what if the features and capabilities that either come on your handset or are loadable by third-party software fly in the face of the terms and conditions of your wireless data plan?
It’s natural to assume that you should actually be able to use the inherent features on a phone you buy or in software designed to run on it. But just because the capabilities are there doesn’t mean your carrier sanctions their use. For example, AT&T’s current T’s and C’s say (albeit using veiled wording) that if you use softphone capabilities to make voice calls on its data network and AT&T finds out about it, it reserves the right to charge you 40 cents per minute while on its network and 69 cents per minute on domestic roaming partners’ networks.
Plummer seemed unaware of such rules and regulations. He acknowledged that Nokia is setting the stage for the future in which new usage and purchasing models will likely come about with next-generation networks.
